Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant, and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on society in the USA, where we are asking ourselves, how much did American society change after World War II? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the influence and impact at the second Red Scare in the USA in the 1940s and the 1950s.

There are four key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are ideology, communist, paranoia, and blacklisted.

An ideology is a set of beliefs which shape a person's understanding of society and the world.

A communist is a person who believes that wealth should be shared equally between people.

Paranoia is a situation where people are unreasonably or excessively scared of something.

And being blacklisted refers to a situation where people refuse to deal or interact with a group of others who they can consider to be bad.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on America and communism.

Communism is an ideology which argues that wealth should be shared equally between people.

Communist ideology also opposed religion and denied the existence of any god.

In the USA, communism was widely considered to be un-American during the 20th century, both because of its economic views and because of its religious views.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

Many people in the USA considered communist beliefs to be an, blank, ideology.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was un-American.

Many people in the USA considered communist beliefs to be an un-American ideology, both because of the economic and the religious beliefs that were involved in it.

There were only ever a small number of communists in the USA relative to the overall population.

Nevertheless, in the 1940s and 1950s, the USA experienced a period of paranoia about the fret of communism, which is known as the Red Scare.

So thinking about what we've just heard.

I want you to study the image shown on the screen.

Based on the source, which inference about the Red Scare is most valid? That communism was considered a limited threat, that there was paranoia about communist aggression, or that many Americans still supported communism.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

We can tell from the image we can see on the screen that there was paranoia about communist aggression.

For example, we can see in the image, ordinary people being strangled, and the US flag being burned under the question, is this tomorrow? Three main types of factors encouraged the development of a Red Scare in the USA in the 1940s and 1950s.

These factors were historical, international, and domestic.

So we'll think about each of them in turn.

So let's start by thinking about historical causes of the Red Scare.

Americans had been shocked by the violence, conflict, and social changes in Russia, which occurred after its communist revolution of 1917.

They did not want to see a repeat in their own country if communism was to become more common there.

The USA had also already experienced a Red Scare in the 1920s.

The first Red Scare left a legacy of suspicion that some communists were secretly plotting against the USA from within its own borders.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads the Red Scare during the 1940s and 1950s was not the first period of communist paranoia in the USA.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that there was a first Red Scare in the USA, which lasted from the late 1880s into the early 1890s.

And the second says that there was a first Red Scare in the USA, which lasted from the late 1910s into the early 1920s.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

There was a first Red Scare in the USA, which lasted from the late 1910s into the early 1920s.

The legacy of suspicion from this first Red Scare helped to influence the outbreak of a second in the 1940s and 1950s.

There were also international causes of the Red scare.

By end of World War II, the two most powerful countries in the world were the USA and the Soviet Union, otherwise known as the USSR.

The USA and USSR was so powerful that they became known as superpowers.

The USA was a capitalist society, whereas the USSR was communist.

So they had opposite ideologies, very different ideas about wealth and the structure of a society.

So thinking about what we've just heard.

Other than the USA, which other country was a superpower by the end of World War II? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was the Soviet Union or the USSR.

So thinking further about the role of the USSR, the USA and USSR entered a period of rivalry known as the Cold War as soon as the Second World War ended.

During the early years of this Cold War, it was clear that the USA's opponent, the Soviet Union, was growing stronger.

For instance, the USSR gained nuclear weapons of its own in 1949.

Furthermore, US policies to contain communism appeared to be unsuccessful at the time.

For instance, Eastern Europe was under Soviet control by the end of the 1940s, and China became a communist country in 1949 as well.

All of this increased the fear of communism as the USA's main rival, the Soviet Union, a communist state seemed to be growing stronger and stronger all around the world.

So what two events in 1949 heightened US suspicions at the USSR? Was it that France and Britain made a military alliance with the USSR, that the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons, that there was a loss of China to communism, or that the USSR bombed American military bases? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Remember that you're selecting two events from our choices.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were B and C.

US suspicions to the USSR and communism were heightened by the Soviet development of nuclear weapons and the loss of China to communism, which both happened in 1949.

And so finally, we can consider how domestic causes contributed to the development at the Red Scare in the USA.

High-profile cases made it appear that some communists were working within the US government.

In 1948, Alger Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty of providing top secret American files to the USSR.

So let's check our understanding of what we just heard.

What were the names of the couple found guilty of providing top secret US files to the Soviet Union? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the couple found guilty of providing top secret US files to the Soviet Union were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

Their actions increased American's concern about communist threats within their own country.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about America and communism into practise.

I want you to match each of the factors which contributed to the development of the second Red Scare during the 1940s and 1950s with the examples which best demonstrate them.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So we needed to match each of our factors with the examples that best demonstrate them.

So the example which demonstrates that there were domestic causes at the development of the Red Scare was that Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty of passing on top secret files.

Our example of a historical factor, which encouraged the development of the second Red Scare was that the USA experienced a Red Scare in the late 1910s and early 1920s.

This had left a lasting suspicion of communism and potential communist threats within the country's borders.

And so finally, an international factor, which contributed to the development of the second Red Scare in the USA, was the fact that the USSR developed nuclear weapons in 1949.

This made communism seem far more dangerous than it had even just a few years beforehand.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of today's lesson where we are going to think about the second Red Scare in the USA.

The second Red Scare had many effects on life in America between the mid 1940s and mid 1950s.

Paranoia about communists affected American politics, popular culture, and even people's careers.

The fear of communist influence in the USA increased pressure on the American government to take action.

In 1947, President Truman created a loyalty programme to investigate all employees at the federal government and removed those who were considered to be security risks.

Federal government employees could be judged as security risk for a range of reasons, from spying and advocating the overthrow of the US government, to simply simplifying with communist organisations.

One employee who was investigated was asked if he owned any music records by Russian artists showing just how little could create grounds for suspicion.

By 1952, over 4 million people who either worked for the federal government or were applying to do so had been checked as part of the loyalty programme.

More detailed investigations were carried out into 27,000 individuals.

Of these, 378 who were judged to be security risks were fired.

However, none of those who investigated as part of the loyalty programme were actually found guilty of spying.

Furthermore, 5,000 people investigated as potential security risks resigned from their jobs, mainly because of the social disgrace associated with being investigated.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

Which statement is most accurate? Everybody investigated under the loyalty programme was found guilty of spying.

Many of those investigated under the loyalty programme were found guilty of spying.

A few of those investigated under the loyalty programme were found guilty of spying.

Or nobody investigated under the loyalty programme was found guilty of spying.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was D.

Despite the fact that over 4 million people were checked as part of the loyalty programme and that detailed investigations were undertaken into 27,000 people, nobody was actually found guilty of spying.

The Red Scare affected more than just those who worked for the US government.

A group in the American Congress called the House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC, searched for communists in government, but also in ordinary workplaces and the media.

In October, 1947, 10 of the most famous filmmakers in Hollywood were investigated by HUAC.

When questioned, these men who became known as the Hollywood Ten refused to answer whether they were members of the American communist party or not.

The 10 argued that in the USA, they had the right to join whatever political party they wanted to.

Initially, many of the directors and actors supported the Hollywood Ten.

However, most public opinion towards the Hollywood Ten was hostile.

Eventually, the Hollywood Ten were given jail sentences for refusing to answer who acts questions, and also blacklisted by employers in Hollywood.

Schools and universities were also targeted by HUAC.

This was because of fears that communists would try to corrupt young minds with propaganda.

In 1948, three professors at the University of Washington were fired for having links to the American communist party.

None of those professors was able to find another university job afterwards.

Around the same time, 31 teachers at the University of California were dismissed because of suspicions about their sympathies towards communism.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything that we've heard.

Which group in Congress searched for possible communists? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was HUAC, or the House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee.

And let's try another question.

This time, we have a statement, which reads those investigated by HUAC suffered more than just the loss of their jobs.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that suspected communists or sympathisers were frequently attacked by the public.

And the second says that suspected communists or sympathisers were frequently blacklisted by employers.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B, suspected communists or sympathisers were frequently blacklisted by employers, meaning that they couldn't find future jobs even after losing the ones that they already held.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the second Red Scare into practise.

We have Sam's view where he says, "Because there were not many actual communists in the USA, the second Red Scare had little impact on people's lives." Is Sam's view correct? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So we were responding to Sam's view, and I asked whether you thought he was correct, and for you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

Your answer may have included, Sam's view is not correct, because many people did suffer as a result of the second Red scare.

Investigations under the loyalty programme and those by HUAC did fail to find many instances of spying.

Nevertheless, communist sympathies were enough for many people to lose their jobs in government, teaching, and other careers.

The Hollywood Ten were even blacklisted as a result of the disgrace associated with their investigation by HUAC.

So really well done.

Your own answer looks something like that model, which we just seen.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about McCarthyism.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a politician in the US Congress.

McCarthy became a leading figure in the search for communists during the second Red Scare.

The second Red Scare is sometimes described as a period of McCarthyism, because of his important role during this period.

By 1950, Joseph McCarthy's political career was not going well, knowing that he would face reelection in 1952.

McCarthy looked for a way to gain attention.

In February, 1950, McCarthy announced that he had a list of 205 government employees who were communists.

When questioned by reporters, McCarthy quickly changed this figure to 57 individuals.

Despite this, many Americans already worried about the threat posed by communism, took McCarthy seriously, and began to see him as a hero.

Over the next five years, McCarthy helped lead the hunt for communists and communist influence in the USA.

Often when investigating individuals, McCarthy would make false allegations, frequently interrupt speakers and shout at witnesses.

Many of those McCarthy accused were not members of the communist party, but still lost their jobs.

Some people even killed themselves due to the pressure created by McCarthy's campaigns.

The process of making powerful, but unreliable accusations against others has become known as McCarthyism.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing number from the following sentence.

Joseph McCarthy claimed that he had the names of 205 communists working in the US government, but reduce this to, blank, names when questioned.

So what's the missing number? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing number was 57.

Joseph McCarthy originally claimed that he had the names of 205 communists working in the US government, but once he was questioned about this, he reduced the number of names on his list to just 57.

And let's try another question.

What made Americans more willing to trust McCarthy's allegations? Was it that by 1950, there was a widespread fear of communism? That McCarthy was able to provide proof for all of his initial allegations.

Or that McCarthy already had a long political career and a reputation as a trusted leader? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, McCarthy's allegations were accepted by many Americans simply because they were already fearful of communism.

As a result, McCarthy's allegations simply fit with the worst suspicions that some people already had, and they didn't really question whether McCarthy himself seemed to be telling the truth.

And let's try one further question.

I want you to identify the two accurate consequences of McCarthyism from our list.

So we have election defeat of Joseph McCarthy, multiple suicides, beginning of the Red Scare, and increased paranoia about communists.

So which two of those are accurate consequences of McCarthyism? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were B and D, McCarthyism led to multiple suicides for some of those who allegations were made against, and also to increase paranoia about communists in the USA.

Many people were uncomfortable with McCarthy's behaviour.

At the height of McCarthy's political strength, whilst 50% of the public were reported as supporting him, 29% were recorded as disapproving.

Even Dwight D.

Eisenhower, a fellow Republican who was elected president in 1952, was privately critical of McCarthy's methods, although the president was still unwilling to directly challenge McCarthyism in public.

Many Republicans did support McCarthy and knows who challenged him, risked looking like communist supporters themselves, further discouraging opposition to McCarthy.

It was only when McCarthy launched a set of accusations against members of the US military that he was unable to prove that McCarthyism began to lose power in the USA.

From April, 1954 onwards, opinion polls always showed that more Americans disapproved of McCarthy than supported him.

After the failure of his army accusations, McCarthy continued to warn about communist threats for a further free years until his death in 1957, but he was generally ignored by both the media and other politicians.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

Republican President Dwight D.

Eisenhower publicly criticised McCarthyism.

So consider which word seems incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who changed the word publicly to privately.

Republican President Dwight D.

Eisenhower privately criticised McCarthyism.

This shows us that there was opposition to Joseph McCarthy, but that many people were worried about expressing it, especially in case they ended up being accused themselves of being or supporting communists.

And let's try another question.

How did McCarthy's allegations against army officers affect his public support? Was it that equal numbers supported and opposed him, that more Americans opposed him than supported him, or that more Americans supported him than opposed him? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

After McCarthy's allegations against members of the US Army, more Americans always opposed him than supported him.

So we're now ready to put all of our knowledge about McCarthyism into practise.

We have a statement that says McCarthyism was successful, because Joseph McCarthy enjoyed such widespread support in the USA.

How far do you agree? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So we had the statement, "McCarthyism was successful, because Joseph McCarthy enjoyed such widespread support in the USA." And I asked how far you agreed with that.

Your answer may have included, McCarthyism was led by Joseph McCarthy and lasted in the USA between 1950 and 1954.

McCarthy's strong stance against communism when a lot of support from Americans at a time during the second Red Scare when many were worried about threats to the USA.

For instance, at the height of McCarthy's political influence, 50% of the public supported his actions.

Nevertheless, there was always opposition to McCarthy, even Republican President Eisenhower disapproved of his methods.

However, the levels of paranoia in the USA made it difficult for opponents to effectively criticise McCarthyism, doing so risked making themselves look like communists and facing public disgrace, so many preferred to stay quiet.

This contributed more significantly to McCarthyism's success than the popularity of Joseph McCarthy himself.

So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

So now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about McCarthyism and the second Red Scare.

We've seen that the second Red Scare was a period of paranoia about communist threats in the USA during the 1940s and 1950s.

The Cold War between the USA and USSR, a legacy of anti-communism and spying allegations, heightened American fears of communism.

Government employees, Hollywood artists, teachers, and other groups of Americans were all targeted in the hunt for communists.

Joseph McCarthy became a leading figure during the Red Scare, exploiting American paranoia for his own benefit.

And McCarthyism refers to situations where powerful but unproven accusations are made against other groups of people.

So really well done for all of your hard work throughout today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources and look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about US society and continue to ask ourselves, how far was American society transformed after the Second World War?.